Health and wellness are core values and come before everything else, as does abiding by the law of the land in which we live.

New guidelines are being implemented in New York, limiting in-person gatherings to 10 people. What this means is that houses of worship of every religion and denomination will have to make some hard choices about who may and may not attend services. For Orthodox congregations in particular, where a minyan quorum consists of 10 males over the age of 13, that number will force congregations to make even harder choices.

In making the decision to resume in-person services, we urge synagogues to also consider the spiritual needs of women, including those who are reciting kaddish and those who had made it part of their daily practice to pray with a minyan. It is imperative that as we resume synagogue attendance, women are part of the conversation and that their ritual needs and practices are given the same attention and regard as their male counterparts.

For more articles on the subject, see JOFA's Press page, as well as these articles here: